Breakfast of Champions (D9 EM Cafeteria Expecting)

[John Slaktare]

"And what about you? When's your birthday? So we can celebrate and have a party when it comes around."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"Oh we got a while till then, August 6th is mine. What about you? I'm guessing November 17th."

That was what the Confederation said his birthday was in their "official" bio along with his favorite food and information about his pet.

[John Slaktare]

"Yeah, 3021," he didn't seem surprised, like it had been public information, because it was.

"Not that I actually celebrate it though. Haven't since I was like fifteen or so. Grandma would wake me up, say happy birthday, send me to my chores."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"Wait what? Does that mean you did have a pet Anaconda named Murder when you were fighting? When I found out your favorite food WASN'T raw chili peppers dipped in melted cheese I assumed everything the CC told me about you was a lie."

[John Slaktare]

"That's what they were saying about me? That's weird. But yeah, guess they used my real birthday and just made up other stuff. I had pets back on the farm, but never a snake," John replies, giving a small 'hmmm' of curiosity.

"I've had dogs, cats and goats as pets though."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"I'm actually thankful that your favorite food isn't raw chilis, I like spicy food but I'm not sure I could to that on the regular. You for sure have a pet snake though, or I do, but a pet goat sounds really cute though. I hope the farm has goats."

[John Slaktare]

"That's your pet now. I ain't the one taking care of it," he jokes.

"I was never a big fan of spicy foods, but I do like foods that got good spices. If that makes sense."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"That I get you, I'm a big garlic fan but I hate what it does to my breath. I have not had a decent bowl of garlic noodles since I left home and that includes bowls I have made; it's basically my only kitchen failing but making black garlic is a whole process."

[John Slaktare]

"I ain't never been one for cooking myself. Never learned how to at all. Probably should have, but never did. But there was plenty of stuff available on Solaris, so I got to try lots of stuff."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"That's fine I can do the cooking, I'm gonna need to learn how to make cheese...probably gonna have to read a book for that; seems more like chemistry than cooking. So how hard is it to milk a cow, is it like...?"

She made a jerking motion with her hand.

[John Slaktare]

"Nah. It's more smooth than that. More like massaging than tugging. You can hurt the cow if you're too rough, upset them and get trampled for your trouble. Gotta be gentle and consistent. That's how it was taught to me at least."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"Do...do people milk pigs? I know cow milk and goat milk and yak milk but what about hog milk?"

[John Slaktare]

"I doubt it. Though I guess it's possible since piglets suckle from their mothers. We didn't keep pigs but some neighbors did. Are you curious to try pig milk?" he asked, a bit confused about the question.

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"No not at all, I don't know why but it sounds awful but lots of people like things I think are awful. Yak milk is a perfect example of that, it tastes bad, it smells bad, it's too thick, it has a weird color. YUCK!"

[John Slaktare]

"Different folks like different stuff. I ain't a fan of goat milk, but I like goat cheese. Prefer raw milk to pasteurized and like stuff made from it more. Never had yak milk though. Was it common back home for you?"

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"My "Uncle" was a big portly man of Russian descent and he loved the stuff. A lot of the time it was fermented but he used yak milk in his coffee and cereal...for everything he could."

[John Slaktare]

"Ah. Well, you got more experience with it than I do. So you do like other dairy stuff then? Milk, butter, cream, ice cream?"

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"I've never really thought about it but I guess so yeah. I like cheese especially on pizza, I like ice cream especially artificial strawberry because it feels like I am cheating given my allergy and if you want to bring a can of whipped cream to the room I will show what I doo with that. I don't really DRINK milk but I eat it with my cereal. How do you feel about tofu?"

[John Slaktare]

"It's fine. Never really felt like it had a strong taste. Just tastes like whatever you cook it with don't it? Like if you cook it in chicken broth it'll taste like chicken broth. Like those little fried pieces they put in some ramen I guess?"

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"Yeah it's great stuff, a lot of people think it's just a bland mush but it can be as crispy as a chip if you cook it right and will taste like whatever you put it in."

All the food talk had finally sparked her appetite and she started quickly eating the now cold oatmeal.